True Identity
by toledo girl
Summary: Margaret and Hawkeye go to Tokyo together and while they are there Margaret meets a man who isn't who she thinks he is and Hawkeye tries to stop Margaret from making one of the biggest mistakes of her life.
1. Chapter 1

1 Going To Tokyo

Hawkeye and Margaret were sitting on a plane together. They were both supposed to go to Tokyo for a lecture.

"What are you going to do once we get there?" Hawkeye asked.

"I'm going to get my things to my room and then go down and join the rest of the group for the first lecture," Margaret said.

"You're no fun," Hawkeye said.

"Pierce, you better go to those lectures. That's the only reason we were sent here," Margaret said.

"Last time I came here," Hawkeye said and then stopped.

Margaret looked over and saw how hard he was thinking.

"You can't remember the last time you were here can you?" she asked.

"Wait. There was something to do with a bar dance," Hawkeye said.

Margaret just sighed.

"I'll be waiting for you down in the conference room," Margaret said.

That night after the lecture Hawkeye left to go to the bar. He walked in and sat down at the counter.

"What would you like?" the bartender asked.

"The driest Martini that you've got," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye sat there and waited as the bartender left to go get him his drink. Suddenly there was some one laughing very loudly in the background. He'd recognize that laugh any where. Hawkeye turned around and saw Margaret with a man.

"Oh yeah, all business," Hawkeye said sarcastically and then turned around to see his drink on the counter.

Hawkeye took a sip of his drink and then noticed a girl that was by herself on the other side of the room. He decided to walk over to her.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Are you here alone?" he asked.

"Depends. Are you?' she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"So am I," she said.

"Do you want to accompany me to the bar?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

Hawkeye wrapped his arm around her as he walked her over to the bar.

"I never caught your name," he said.

"Courtney," she said.

"I'm Hawkeye," he said.

They both sat down and Hawkeye picked up his unfinished drink.

"That's an interesting name," she said.

"It's from the Last of the Mohicans. The only book that my father ever read," Hawkeye said.

" I've read that book," she said.

"Isn't there something that you'd rather do tonight before you go to sleep?" he asked while starting to kiss her.

"I don't know. I'll think about it," she said.

Margaret and her friend came and sat down next to Hawkeye without knowing it.

"I'll have a scotch," Margaret said.

"And I'll have a beer," he said.

"Maybe we should go back to the room," Courtney suggested.

"Great idea," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye stood up and saw Margaret.

"Margaret? I thought you said that you wouldn't be having fun while you were here," Hawkeye said.

"I said I'd go to the lectures. I never said anything about what I'd do after," Margaret said.

Hawkeye just smirked and then took Courtney back up to his room.

Margaret sat there.

"So Donald. I hear that you've been with the army for a while now," Margaret said.

"Yep. Lieutenant Colonel," he said.

Donald smiled at her for a moment.

"Would you like to come with me to my hotel room?" he asked.

Margaret smiled.

"Sure," she said.


	2. Who Is Donald?

2 Who Is Donald?

Hawkeye went down to get breakfast. It was their second day there. He sat down at the table and Margaret came over and joined him.

"So how was your night last night?" he asked while suggestively grinning.

"It was good," she said.

"Any details?' he asked.

"Nothing that you're ever going to hear," she said.

"Oh come on," he said.

"No way," Margaret said.

"I'll tell you about mine," he said.

"I'm sure you would," she said.

"You mean to tell me that there is absolutely nothing that you can tell me about last night," Hawkeye said.

"Well, I can tell you that I'll be seeing him again tonight," Margaret said.

"And what will you two kids be doing tonight?" Hawkeye asked.

"None of your business," she said.

"That means it's dirty," Hawkeye said.

"How would you know that?' she asked.

"Well if it was something completely innocent you wouldn't have a problem telling me would you?" he asked.

"You're not my father you know. I don't have to tell you what I'm doing," she said.

"Yet some how I know," he said.

"I'll see you in two hours. We have another lecture to attend," Margaret said.

"Oh come on Margaret. I already went to one of them," Hawkeye said.

"You know you have to," Margaret said.

"I don't have to do any of this. All I came here to do was to stitch up wounded kids as soon as possible and get them to the evac hospital in one piece. They said nothing about listening to people talk about the things that we don't have the time to even consider doing," Hawkeye said.

"Now you know they wouldn't send us here with out a good reason. It's only two hours," she said.

"Only two hours," he said mockingly.

Margaret just glared at him. That night after the meeting Hawkeye went to go see the boy that Margaret was spending her time with since they had been there. He was just curious. Hawkeye stood around after the meeting and waited for Margaret.

"What?" she asked.

"I want to see him," Hawkeye said.

"Why?" she asked.

"He'll tell me details," Hawkeye said.

"Can't you get your head out of the gutter?" she asked.

"I've tried but it was pulled back down when I received my magazines for the month," Hawkeye said.

"Fine. You want to see him? There he is," she said pointing to him.

"I know him," Hawkeye said once he saw him.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"How?" she asked.

"Last time when I was here with Trapper he attended the same party as us," Hawkeye said.

"What was he like?" Margaret asked.

"A party animal," Hawkeye said.

"How much of a party animal?" Margaret asked.

"He once got four girls to up in his room with him. At the same time," Hawkeye said.

"No," Margaret said disbelieving.

"Yes, we all admired him," Hawkeye said.

"Donald? Please," she said.

"Alright, if you don't believe me," Hawkeye said.

"I don't," Margaret said.

Margaret walked off towards Donald.


	3. Margaret's Mistake

3 Margaret's Mistake

That night Margaret went to the final lecture by herself. Hawkeye was sitting in the restaurant right by the building where the lecture was being held. As he sat there, he saw Donald come in and sit down at the table next to him. Donald looked over and smiled.

"Have I seen you some where?" Donald asked.

"The party thrown by Major Wilson," Hawkeye said.

"Oh yeah. You were the one who tried to make out with one of the waitresses while on top of the table," Donald said.

"And you're the one who got four girls up to your room," Hawkeye said.

"I remember that night," Donald said smiling.

"Who could forget? We all sat down there trying to figure out how you did it," Hawkeye said.

"Honestly? They didn't find out about each other until the next morning," Donald said.

"Seriously?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah. They all woke up, saw each other and then got furious. Not with me but with each other and then left," Donald said.

"Wow. If I never get married, I'll blame that story," Hawkeye said.

"Just because you're married doesn't mean that you're restricted," Donald said.

"Trapper thinks like that. Right now my current room mate, BJ, total opposite," Hawkeye said.

"Completely faithful?" Donald asked.

"Yeah. It gets annoying when he talks about his family too much, but is nice that he found some one that he can stay faithful to. Even when he is thousands of miles away," Hawkeye said.

"That is nice, I just don't think that I could ever do that," Donald said.

"I could once I get married, but right now," Hawkeye said.

Margaret walked in and sat down by Donald.

"Hello Donald," she said as she kissed him.

"You kids be careful," Hawkeye said.

"Pierce," she said warningly.

"Alright, I'll leave you two alone," Hawkeye said and then got up to leave, but right before he left he turned around.

"You two both know that this is a public place. Right?" he asked.

Donald quickly stopped kissing Margaret.

"Right," he said.

Hawkeye laughed as he left. Margaret just glared in Hawkeye's direction. That night Margaret and Donald both sat up in his room. They were both in bed with the covers on. Margaret looked over at Donald.

"You know, it's too bad that I have to leave tomorrow," Margaret said.

"You do?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, I have to go back to the unit and inform the rest about what I learned from the lectures that I went to," Margaret said.

"Aren't you here with some one else?" Donald asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Well, why can't you just send them back and you stay here?" Donald asked.

"Send Hawkeye back to tell them about the lecture? Please. I had to keep waking him up every ten minutes," Margaret said.

"But I don't want you to go," Donald said.

Margaret thought it was sweet that he didn't want her to leave.

"You'll see me again some day," she said.

"I'd like to be sure of that," Donald said.

"You trust me," Margaret said.

"I know that. But just to be sure," Donald said.

Donald got out of bed and got down on one knee. Margaret's eyes widened.

"Margaret Houlihan, would you marry me?" Donald asked.

"Well," she said.

Margaret was about to say no, but then remembered a letter that she had received earlier about her friend and how she married the guy that Margaret had turned down. The guy that was now a rich doctor with two cars and a swimming pool and her friend was a happily married mother of two adorable kids. Margaret didn't want another letter from one of her friends telling her how happy they were being married to Donald.

"Yes," Margaret said and then smiled.

"Yes I'll marry you," Margaret said.

Donald smiled as he went over and kissed her.


	4. I'll Be There

4 I'll Be There

It was two weeks later. Margaret and Hawkeye hadn't been talking much. Margaret sat in her tent as she looked her ring over. Earlier that day she had called Donald and asked him to visit her. He was supposed to arrive that weekend. She sat on her cot. She wanted to announce that Donald was coming, but she didn't know who to tell. Margaret decided to go to the Swamp and give her announcement there. She knew that this weekend they were going to set a date and that more then likely the wedding would be in the following week. The only thing that bothered her was that she kept on thinking about what Hawkeye had said about Donald. As she approached the swamp she could hear Hawkeye and BJ laughing about something.

"Probably on Frank's account," she said to herself.

Margaret went and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Hawkeye called out.

Margaret walked in.

"Guess what," she said.

"What?" Frank asked.

"Donald's coming," she said.

"Here?" Frank asked as he stood up.

"Yes Frank. Where else is here?" she asked.

"You going to get married when he gets here?" Hawkeye asked.

"May I talk to Hawkeye alone?" Margaret asked.

"What's wrong with talking to me?" Frank whined.

"Come on Frank," BJ said as he was half way out the door.

"No, this is my tent and I want to stay," Frank said.

"Out Frank!" Margaret warned.

"Second thought," Frank said and then left.

Hawkeye looked up at Margaret.

"Would you like a drink?" Hawkeye asked

Margaret sat down in the chair next to the still.

"No thanks," Margaret said.

"I just have one question," Margaret said.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Why don't you like the idea of me getting married?" Margaret asked.

"It's not that I don't want you to get married. It's just," Hawkeye looked over at Margaret who seemed willing to listen.

"It's just what?" Margaret asked.

"It's just that I know Donald. Many boys and girls know him. The girls a bit better then the buys," Hawkeye said.

"I see," Margaret said.

"I thought you didn't care about what I had to say about Donald," Hawkeye said.

"I just didn't want you to be the one to speak out against our marriage at the wedding," Margaret said.

"I wouldn't do that," Hawkeye said.

"You sure seemed like you would," Margaret said.

"I was just worried about you, that's all," Hawkeye said.

"Don't you think I can make my own decisions? Beside, no matter who I marry there's always going to be a chance that he'll be unfaithful," Margaret said.

Hawkeye sighed.

"Did you even think about what you were doing? I mean you spend one weekend with the guy and you come back engaged to be married to him," Hawkeye said.

"I'm sure," Margaret said.

Hawkeye just looked down. He then looked up at Margaret and smiled.

"Good luck," he said.

"What was that?" Mrgaret asked surprised.

"You're right. Good luck," Hawkeye said.

Margaret softly smiled.

"Thankyou," she said.

Hawkeye just smiled as he watched her leave.

"I just hope that you know what you're getting yourself into," he said.


	5. Donald's Little Lie

5 Donald's Little Lie

Margaret sat in the mess tent. Today Donald was supposed to arrive. She sat there as she kept looking over her shoulder. BJ grabbed his tray and sat down across from her.

"Something out there?" he asked.

Margaret quickly turned back and faced BJ.

"No," she said.

"Something wrong?" BJ asked.

"Donald's coming today and he's not here yet," Margaret said.

"I see," BJ said.

Margaret went back to looking over her shoulder.

"Don't worry Margaret, he'll come," BJ said.

Margaret quickly turned back.

"What?" she asked.

BJ just shook his head.

"Nothing," he said.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye was over in the office on the phone.

"So did you find some one for her?" Hawkeye asked.

Hawkeye was smiling. He was supposed to go to Tokyo for the weekend and the girl he was supposed to meet said she couldn't come unless her friend could find some one so they could double date.

"That's great Carrie," he said.

"No, I don't care who he is," Hawkeye said.

"No I'm," Hawkeye was cut off.

"I see," he said as his expression went from happy to worried.

"Yeah, I'll be there," Hawkeye said and then hung up the phone.

Hawkeye sat there and sighed.

Margaret sat in her tent as she kept thinking about Donald. She sighed as she was sitting at her desk.

"Where could he be?" she asked herself.

"Phone call for Major Houlihan."

Margaret's eyes widened as she quickly stood up and headed over to the office.

"Here Major," Radar said as soon as he saw her come in and then handed her the phone.

"Hello?" Margaret asked.

"Donald! Where are you?" she asked.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Alright bye," Margaret said and then hung up.

Margaret slowly walked out of the office and headed over to her tent. Hawkeye saw her and joined her infront of her tent.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Donald hasn't come yet because he's in the hospital," Margaret said.

Hawkeye knew the real reason why Donald wasn't there. He was with a red head in Tokyo.

"I'm sorry. What happened?" Hawkeye asked.

""He didn't say," Margaret said.

"All he said was that his jeep turned over," Margaret said.

"If you need anything," Hawkeye said.

"Actually, aren't you going to Tokyo this weekend?" Margaret asked.

"Yeah?" Hawkeye said.

"Do you think I could come with you?" Margaret asked.

"Well," Hawkeye said.

"I promise that I won't get in your way. I'll just be at the hospital," Margaret said.

"I guess," Hawkeye said.

"Thankyou," Margaret said.

Hawkeye stood there and sighed as Margaret headed back in to her tent.


	6. Going To Tokyo

6

Hawkeye went back into his tent and sat down on his cot. BJ was reading a book that Peg had sent him. Hawkeye sat there and stared towards BJ.

"Beej, I've got a problem," Hawkeye said.

BJ put the book down and sat up.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Remember how I described Donald?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah," BJ said.

"Well, there was one phone call that was just made that proved me very right and I don't know how to tell Margaret," Hawkeye said.

"Did a hotel call asking for Mrs. Penobscott?" BJ asked.

"No, this weekend I was going to Tokyo to meet with Carrie and she said that in order for us to go out we needed to find her friend a date. Well her friend found a date," Hawkeye said.

"And that date was Donald," BJ said.

"Right. And now to make it worse, Donald called and told Margaret that he couldn't come because he was in the hospital and now Margaret wants me to take her along with me so that she could see him," Hawkeye said.

"That is a problem," BJ said.

"Yeah, Donald's bed might not be big enough for a surprise guest," Hawkeye said.

"Especially an angry one," BJ said.

"I have to leave tomorrow morning. Maybe I should just cancel the trip," Hawkeye said.

"I don't know. Maybe it's better that she find out about him now instead of after the wedding," BJ said.

"That's true," Hawkeye said.

"And besides, whether or not you go she'll go there any ways. At least if you take her she'll have some one," BJ said.

"I should probably still warn her," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye walked over to Margaret's tent and knocked on the door.

"Come in," she said.

"Hawkeye walked in and saw her packing.

"Hey Margaret," Hawkeye said.

Margaret turned around.

"I'm glad you came. What time do I need to ready to leave tomorrow?" Margaret asked.

"Actually, that's why I came. Margaret, are you sure that you want to come?" Hawkeye asked.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" she asked.

"There's something that I don't want you to see," Hawkeye said.

"Don't be silly. We'll have separate rooms," Margaret said.

"That's not what I mean," Hawkeye said.

"Then what do you mean?" she asked.

"I don't want you to see Donald because," Hawkeye said but was cut off by Margaret.

"Will you stop it already! The man is in the hospital and all you can do is lecture me on his past!" Margaret snapped.

"He's not in the hospital Margaret! He just told you that so he could spend the weekend with another girl instead of making wedding plans!" Hawkeye said.

Margaret stood there looking as if she had never been more insulted in her life. She stormed over to the door and opened it.

"Get out!" she said sternly.

"Fine!" he said.

"And be ready by nine," he angrily said as he left.

Margaret slammed the door and then went back to her packing.

The next morning Margaret was sitting in the jeep with her luggage. Hawkeye came out and threw his things in the back.

"Good morning Major," he said sourly as he got in.

"Morning Captain," she said bitterly.

"Ready?" Hawkeye asked.

"When ever you're ready," she said.

They drove together to the airport with out saying a word to each other. Once they got on the plane they sat on separate sides. Hawkeye sat and stared out the window hoping that at least she wouldn't see Donald with another woman. That it would okay for her to find out that he lied, but didn't know how she would take it if she found him with another woman. Margaret, on the opposite side, was wondering why Hawkeye wouldn't keep his nose out of her business and why he had to keep butting in on her relationship.


	7. A Trip To The Hospital

7

Hawkeye and Margaret walked into the hotel. Margaret go her room and then Hawkeye got his. Hawkeye walked in and put his things down then rushed to the phone.

"Could you please connect me to a Donald Penobscott?" Hawkeye asked.

"Thank you," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye sat there and waited for a few minutes.

"Donald?" he asked.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Margaret's here and she's planning on visiting you in the hospital in a few minutes," Hawkeye said.

"Look Donald, I don't care about that," Hawkeye said.

"Donald!" Hawkeye said.

"Donald?" Hawkeye asked.

"Great, he hung up on me," Hawkeye said as he hung the phone up.

Margaret was over in her room getting ready To go over to the hospital to see Donald. She redid her hair and make up.

"I hope I surprise him," Margaret said to herself.

Margaret took one final look at herself and then left. Hawkeye sat in his room and was once again on the phone.

"I'm sorry Carrie, I don't think I can make it tonight. There's some patients here that the Colonel wants me to check up on and I don't think that I'll get done until late. How about when I finish I just come over to your room?" Hawkeye asked.

"Alright, see you tonight then. Bye," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye hung up the phone and looked out the window. Margaret stepped out of the cab and paid the fair. She walked through the door and to the counter.

"Hello, which room is Donald Penobscott in? P-E-N-O-B-S-C-O-T-T," Margaret said.

The receptionist turned around and looked through the files. She pulled one out and looked it over.

"Mam, the last time a Donald Penoscott was here was last year," she said.

"Oh," Margaret said suddenly realizing.

"I see. Thank you," she said.

Margaret walked outside and stood there. She was thinking about what Hawkeye had said as she held back tears. She went and got a cab and headed back to the hotel. Margaret slowly got off the elevator. As soon as she stepped off Hawkeye walked out of his room. Margaret quickly walked passed him. Hawkeye watched her and then went to the door and knocked. Margaret went and answered it. She was in a hotel and didn't want to yell at anyone to go away and make a scene.

"What?" she asked.

Hawkeye could easily see that she was on the verge of tears and had already known what had happened.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I think you know," she said.

"I came over to apologize," he said.

"And to say I told you so," Margaret said.

"No," Hawkeye said.

"Why not? You have every right to. You told me from the very beginning what was going to happen," Margaret said.

"I didn't want to be right," Hawkeye said.

Margaret wiped her face.

"Listen, I'm sorry about last night," Margaret said.

"It's fine," Hawkeye said.

Margaret went and sat down on the bed and blankly stared.

"I was going down to go get lunch, you want anything?" Hawkeye asked.

"No thank you, I think that I'd just like to be alone right now," Margaret said.

"Remember, if you need anything," Hawkeye said.

Margaret looked at him and slightly smiled.

"Thanks," she said softly.

Hawkeye walked out and closed the door behind him .


	8. A Night To Dinner

8 A Night Out

Margaret stood in her room, as she looked at her self in the mirror. Hawkeye was going to take her to dinner that night.

"I would have understood if you would have just told me that you weren't ready. It's a hell of a lot better then being lied to so you don't have to commit to something," Margaret said.

There was a knock at the door and Margaret turned and went to go answer it.

"Hi," she said as she saw Hawkeye standing outside.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

Margaret stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. As they walked down the hall Hawkeye looked over at Margaret. He could easily tell that she was upset, and with good reasoning. They were silent all the way over to the restaurant that was just down the street from them. They went in and sat down. Hawkeye looked up at Margaret.

"You know, it's not your fault. You don't need him any ways," Hawkeye said.

"Maybe, but still not and excuse," Margaret said.

"Maybe next time you come here you should get together with a couple of other nurses and look for a couple of handsome men," Hawkeye said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because if I tried to do that with you a lot of people would get the wrong idea," Hawkeye said.

"Any time I find a man I always get the short end of the stick. In college I dated a few men, and you know why they all left me. Because I was to serious about my work, or miss pompoms was better looking and had easier access then me," Margaret said.

"I'll agree with the easier access part," Hawkeye said.

"Oh, and then there's old ferret face Burns back at camp. Sure he loves me when no one else will be his friend, but once he goes home I'll mean nothing to him," Margaret said.

"Now Harry and Bluto got there air headed cheerleaders and Frank's got his rich wife. Where does that leave me?" Margaret asked.

As she was talking Hawkeye saw Donald walk in with another woman.

"I get dog tags and a pair of combat boots with a wounded soldier lying down in front of me," Margaret said.

"I thought you wanted to be in the army,' Hawkeye said.

"I do. I just also want a husband. Don't you ever want to get married?" Margaret asked.

"Maybe once I get settled down back home," Hawkeye said.

"Excuse me, I'm going to go check my make up," Margaret said.

Hawkeye's eyes widened.

"No!" he said.

Margaret just gave him a look of confusion.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I mean, it's only me. I've seen you after fifteen hours in OR," Hawkeye said.

"Thank you, but I still want to. Just in case I find some one better tonight," Margaret said.

"That won't be very hard," Hawkeye said as Margaret turned around.

Margaret turned and saw Donald with another woman.

"I see," she said.

"Now Margaret," Hawkeye started.

"No, it's okay," Margaret said.

Margaret started towards Donald. Hawkeye watched her with interest.

"Hi Donald," she said bitterly as she stood at his side.

Donald looked up at her nervously.

"Margaret," he said.

"Who is this?" the lady asked.

"I'm his fiancée," Margaret said.

Margaret picked up the glass of wine.

"I love you to honey," she said as she poured it on his head.

Donald stood up.

"Look Margaret," he said.

"No you look!" she said.

Margaret then punched him in the eye.

"I guess I deserved that," he said.

The other woman stood up and came over and slapped him.

"I deserved that to," he said.

The lady looked over at Margaret.

"I'm sorry. He didn't tell me that he was engaged," she said.

"Oh don't worry, he's not engaged anymore," Margaret said as she pulled off her ring and set it down on the table in front of him.

Hawkeye watched as she came back and joined him.

"I don't think that I'll have to worry about him any more," Margaret said.

Hawkeye just smiled at her.


	9. Will She Ever Learn?

9 Will She Ever Learn?

Margaret and Hawkeye were back at the 4077th and had been back for a week now. To Hawkeye Margaret seemed to be back to her old self. Frank had been very happy to hear that the engagement had been called off. They were now in surgery and Margaret was assisting Hawkeye.

"Clamp," Hawkeye said.

Margaret handed him the clamp.

"I want to thank you," she said quietly.

Hawkeye glanced over at her.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yes. You told me what I was getting into. I just hope that there aren't too many more of him out there," Margaret said.

"Don't worry, it's about every three out of ten," Hawkeye said.

"I'd also like to apologize. I wouldn't listen, but I know that I should have," Margaret said.

"Just take it a little slower next time," Hawkeye said.

After words Hawkeye and BJ walked out together. They slowly walked back to their tent.

"Hey, look at that," BJ said.

Hawkeye turned and looked. He saw Margaret with one of the wounded men that were getting shipped back to their unit.

"Well well," Hawkeye said.

They watched as Margaret smiled at him and then briefly kissed him. Hawkeye and BJ exchanged looks and smiled at each other. Margaret went and joined them.

"I take it you know him," BJ said.

"Yeah," Margaret said.

"He's inviting me to visit him in Seoul the next time he goes," Margaret said.

"You're not going to rush any thing are you?" Hawkeye asked.

Margaret paused and looked back at him. Hawkeye raised his eye brow and then slowly grinned. Margaret smiled back and then went on her way back to her tent. Hawkeye sighed as he looked over at BJ.

"I don't think she'll come back engaged this time," BJ said.

"I don't know, look how happy she is," Hawkeye said.

They looked over and saw her smiling as she opened the door to her tent. She waved back at them as she spotted them.

BJ looked back at Hawkeye.

"She'll come back engaged," then said simultaneously.


	10. Just One More Surprise

10 Just One More Surprise

Colonel Potter had Hawkeye in his office as he painted his picture.

"Your eyes have an odd color to them today," Potter said.

"That's because you're used to seeing them when I'm drunk. At the moment I'm sober," Hawkeye said.

"I'll drink to that," Potter said.

"How do you think I keep getting drunk?" Hawkeye asked.

"Alright, keep still. I need to finish your mouth," he said.

Radar came in and stood at the door.

"Colonel Potter sir, Major Houlihan's here to see you," Radar said.

"Alright, let her in," he said as he put the brush down.

Margaret happily walked in carrying a letter. She went and stood before his desk.

"Guess what I got to today in the mail," she said.

"A letter stated that the rabbit lived," Hawkeye said.

Margaret glared back at Hawkeye as he childishly grinned back at her.

"Not even that is going to ruin this moment," Margaret said.

"That's good, Frank would have a heart attack paying for another child," Hawkeye said

"Well what did you get?" Potter asked.

"I got a letter from Captain Freddy Marshall," Margaret said.

"Is that the soldier that BJ and I saw you saying good bye to a couple of weeks ago?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yes. This weekend he is going to be staying in Seoul. I was wondering if I could go?" Margaret asked.

Colonel Potter thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he said.

"Radar!" he called out.

Radar walked in.

"The next batch of casualties is expected Tuesday sir," Radar said.

Margaret smiled anxiously over at Colonel Potter.

"Go and have a good time," he said.

"Thank you Colonel," Margaret said.

Margaret turned and started to leave.

"Wait, Margaret," Hawkeye said.

Margaret stopped and turned to Hawkeye.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Just remember, take your time," Hawkeye said.

Margaret smiled at him.

"Thank you. I will," she said.

"You promise?" Hawkeye asked.

"Promise. I won't be making wedding plans with this guy for a while," Margaret said.

Before Margaret left, Radar came and entered the office. He nervously stood at the door.

"What is it Radar?" Colonel Potter asked.

"I've got a visitor out here," Radar said.

"Well, let them in," Potter said.

"I'm afraid to sir," radar said.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Hawkeye said.

"Well, alright. If you say so," Radar said.

Radar turned and left as Donald walked into the office.

Margaret just stood there. She didn't know what to say. This was the man who just broke her heart. She filled with both anger and shock. Hawkeye looked at Donald and then over at Margaret.

"Hey Margaret," he said.

"Hey, yourself," she said bitterly.


	11. No More

11 No More

Every one stared as Donald stood there before them.

"Hello Donald," she said bitterly.

"Hey Margaret," he said.

Colonel Potter was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the room. He leaned over to hawkeye.

"Maybe we should leave these two alone," he said.

"And miss the chance to see her rip his head off? No," Hawkeye said.

Colonel Potter stood up.

"Come on," he said.

Hawkeye stood up and started to follow as Colonel Potter walked out the door.

"I never get to be a part of any of the fun," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye got to the door and turned around towards Margaret. She looked over at him as he mouthed out that he would be right out side. Margaret then faced her attention right back towards Donald.

"Alright, why are you here?" Margaret asked.

"To apologize," Donald said.

Margaret's eyes widened with both disbelief and anger.

"Ohho, now you want to apologize. Well let me tell you something. You had plenty of time to apologize while we were engaged!"Margaret said.

"I know I shouldn't have gone out with any of the women that I did while we were engaged and I'm sorry," Donald said.

"Women? There was more then one?" Margaret angrily asked.

"Yes," Donald said.

"How many?" she asked.

"Five, and yes I can remember their names," Donald said.

"Yeah? Who?" Margaret asked.

She couldn't wait to hear this.

"Molly Houlihan, and Lisa Paul," he said.

"Molly Houlihan?" Margaret asked.

"Yes," Donald said.

"That's my little sister you creep!" she yelled.

"I didn't know, and apparently neither did she," Donald said.

"That's because I didn't tell her. I wanted to surprise my family by bringing a husband home from the war. I didn't think that that would be ruined by my fiancée taking a liking to my sister!" Margaret angrily yelled.

Margaret suddenly just stood down. She realized something. He didn't even know her last name. Sure he could remember all those others. You couldn't make up a name like Houlihan on the spot and coincidently have their sister's name. It just doesn't work like that. Margaret just blankly looked up into his eyes.

"I don't need this, and I sure as hell don't need you. So you can just go back into your little fantasy world and have all the women you. As far as I'm concerned, you have absolutely nothing at all," she said and then walked passed him and out the door.

Donald just turned and watched her pass. Margaret walked out the door to where Hawkeye was sitting at the desk. He looked up.

"That certainly didn't last long," he said.

Margaret just looked down at him.

"No it didn't," she said and then continued to her tent.

Hawkeye sat there and then saw Donald walk out.

"What did you do?" Hawkeye asked.

"Nothing that you wouldn't do," Donald said.

Hawkeye stood up.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Hawkeye asked.

"I mean that if you found a bunch of beautiful women you'd take them back to your room," Donald said.

"Not if I was engaged," Hawkeye said.

"I have a hard time believing that," Donald said.

"And I have a hard time believing that you don't care about that woman one bit," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye just turned and walked over to Margaret's tent and knocked on the door. Margaret was standing inside packing.

"I don't care what you have to say! I'm not forgiving you!" Margaret said.

"It's Hawkeye," Hawkeye said.

"Come in," she said.

Hawkeye walked in.

"I hope he didn't ruin your whole weekend," Hawkeye said.

Margaret turned around and smiled.

"No. I'm not going to let that snake ruin any more of my life," she said.

"That's good," Hawkeye said.

"No intention to be rude Captain, but I've got to go to Seoul tomorrow and I have some packing to do," Margaret said.

"Have a good time," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye walked out and closed the door behind him. He started towards the swamp but stopped and turned back around. He just smiled and then continued on his way.

Margaret stood there.

"My own little sister," Margaret said to herself.

"He should have known better," Margaret said.


	12. Molly

-112 Molly

Colonel Potter was sitting in his office. He had just gotten off the phone and looked sadly down at his desk. Margaret walked in and stood before him. She looked as happy as a person could be.

"Hello Sir," she said.

"Hi Major," he said.

"Did you have a good time in Seoul?" he asked.

"Yes," Margaret said noticing the sad tone in his voice.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

He just sighed, Margaret now was dreading what ever she was about to hear.

"Margaret, I just got a call. Your sister, Molly has died," he said.

Margaret's happiness was now replaced with shock.

"Oh," she said.

She couldn't believe it, her sister was dead.

"I see," Margaret said trying to keep her voice steady.

"I'm sorry I had to tell you," he said.

Margaret just walked out of his office and slowly made her way to her tent. She sat down on her cot and blankly stared. Her sister had just died and she wasn't really sure of what she was feeling. She was definitely shocked. Molly wasn't that old at all. She was what? Twenty eight? How could she die? Accident? Shelling? It didn't matter, she was dead.

Hawkeye and BJ sat in the swamp as they both had their martinis.

"What do you think? Should we maybe let it sit longer next time?" Hawkeye asked.

"I don't know," BJ said examining his drink.

"Maybe we need less gin," BJ suggested.

Frank walked in and looked down at the two.

"It's pitiful how you two can waste your time with something so wasteful," Frank said.

Hawkeye looked over at BJ.

"Hey Frank? Can we get your opinion on something?" Hawkeye asked.

Frank turned towards them with surprise. It wasn't to often that they even talked to him with insulting him.

"What is it?" he asked skeptical.

"We need you to taste this," BJ said.

"Well, alright," Frank said.

Frank walked over and took a sip of the drink.

"Tastes awful," he said.

"We were wondering if you knew what to add to it?" Hawkeye asked.

"Gin." Frank said.

"But it's already got too much gin," BJ said.

Before any more could be said they saw a jeep pull up and two MPs get out.

"Uh oh Frank. Looks like they've finally caught you," Hawkeye said.

"He better be scared, probably sent by his wife," BJ said.

Margaret sat in her tent still thinking about her sister. There was no reason why she should be dead right now. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said.

An MP walked in and stood at the door.

"Major Margaret Houlihan?" he asked.

"Yes?" she asked as she turned around.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with us. You're arrested for the murder of Molly Houlihan," he said.

Margaret just blankly stared in confusion.


	13. Going to Court

\/p>

13 Going to Court 

Margaret sat in the colonel's office with the MPs.

"How can I possibly be a suspect? She's my sister!" Margaret said.

"Margaret," Potter said warningly.

Margaret knew that he wanted her to calm down but didn't exactly know how.

"Weren't you there on the sixteenth?" one of the MPs asked.

"Yes," Margaret said.

"That's the day that she was murdered," he said.

"I guess you're going to have to go with them," Potter said with disappointment.

Colonel Potter knew that she didn't murder any one. He also knew that this could really hurt her career. He looked over and saw Margaret just blankly staring down. Margaret then looked up at Colonel Potter with begging eyes and then stood up and faced the MPs. 

"Okay," Margaret said.

Margaret went with them to the courthouse. All the way there she kept thinking about her sister. How this week get any worse? She sees Donald, a man that she never wants to see again and then finds out her sister's dead then gets wrongfully accused of killing her. Margaret just blankly stared. Once they got there she went in and found out that the trial would start the day after tomorrow. When the day did come Hawkeye and Colonel Potter came as witnesses for her. She sat there nervously as she looked around wondering what would happen.

"Now I call Margaret Houlihan to the stand," the judge said.

Margaret stood up and walked to the front, took the oath and then sat down. The room was awkwardly silent for a moment. The prosecutor came up and stood before her.

"Now Margaret, is it true that you were once the fiancee of a Donald Penobscott?" he asked.

"Yes," she said without expression hoping to soon get this over with.

"And is it also true that Donald came to see the day before you left and you found out that he was also dating Molly during the time of your engagement?" he asked.

Margaret sighed. She knew that this could not look good at all.

"yes," she said.

"So of course you were angry," he said.

"Yes," Margaret said.

"Angry at Donald," he said.

"More then ever," she said.

"Angry at Molly," he said.

Now she knew he wanted her to say yes.

"She didn't no. Of course not," Margaret said.

"She didn't know? You two were sisters. How could she not know about Donald?" he asked.

"Because before that I had not talked to her for a while," Margaret said.

"And why did you just suddenly go over there?" he asked.

"To ask her whether or not she did know," Margaret said.

"And?" he asked.

"Donald didn't even tell her that he knew me," Margaret said.

"Alright, that's all. You can step down now," he said.

Margaret got down and went back to her seat. It seemed as if everything were against her. A losing battle.

"And now I call Donald Penobscott to the stand," he announced.

Margaret's eyes widened as she turned around. She could not believe that he was there to speak against her. She knew that he was angry with her, but how angry? 

Donald got up there and took the oath. Margaret could see a smugness in his eyes as he looked down towards her. 

"You were engaged to Margaret Houlihan right?" he asked.

"That is true," he said.

"And is it true that you were with her sister at the same time?" he asked.

"Not the way that she thinks, no," Donald said.

"And did you tell Molly that you were engaged to Margaret?" he asked.

"Yes, but Molly didn't care," Donald said.

"That's not true!" Margaret said as she stood up.

"Settle down!" the judge said.

Margaret's lawyer grabbed her arm and pulled her down. Margaret right now was ready to go rip Donald's head off.

"Now, you said that later on that day that you went to go see Molly and when you got there you found her dead?" he asked.

"That is true. I went over to go see if she was still alive. You know, I checked her pulse and started calling her name. there was no response," Donald said.

"Did you by any chance see any thing weird about her apartment? Was it messed up? Did it look like some one had broken in?" he asked.

"No, but before I went in, I did see Margaret leaving," Donald said.

Margaret was now worried. Her jaw slightly dropped. She couldn't believe it. She was there in the morning. She could not deny that. But there was no way that she left Molly half dead. She just nervously gazed in disbelief towards Donald. Margaret then looked back and shook her head at Hawkeye who was sitting right behind her. Margaret turned around. Once she did she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to see that it was Hawkeye's. She then turned back and grabbed his hand. Now she had no idea what she was going to do. They all seemed to believe the liar.

\/p> 


	14. All to Clear

14 All To Clear

There was a recess for court. Margaret stayed in her seat. She was nervous. It was his word against hers, and odds are, they were going to take his. Why? Not because he was a man or he outranked her, but because he was good at acting. Acting like he doesn't know anything. Acting like he's innocent. And acting like she took things for more then they really were and was vengeful person.

"Don't worry," Colonel Potter said.

Margaret looked up at him. It was hard to believe that she didn't have to worry.

"We'll put in good words for you. Besides, we work with you, they ought to believe that we would have a good idea of what you are like," Hawkeye said.

He smiled reassuringly at her. She didn't know why, but anything those two could say helped her. She felt more at ease. Besides, she knew from past experiences that Hawkeye had a way of getting what he wanted, and he wanted her to stay with them at the 4077th. Even though she deeply doubted this theory, it did bring some comfort to her. Margaret looked up and spotted Donald.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," Margaret said.

Margaret got up and went over to him. Donald was standing with the prosecutor and laughing.

"Hello Donald," Margaret said bitterly.

Donald turned around. He looked surprised to see her.

"Hi Margaret," he said.

Margaret looked over at the prosecutor. She knew that anything he heard he would find a way to use it against her in court.

"May I have a moment alone with him?" she asked.

"Sure," he said and left.

Margaret watched to make sure that he left the room and then pulled Donald off to the side.

"What is it?" he asked.

"How dare you?" she asked.

"What? You mean what I said today?" he asked.

"Yes. What the hell do you think you are doing? Is this some sort of sick joke? Because I don't see any one laughing Donald," Margaret said.

"I was just telling the court what happened," he said.

"Oh don't give me that. You know damn well that you told me you were dating her and you also know that you didn't go to visit my sister after that. There not one ounce of truth to anything you said up there," Margaret said.

"Maybe I think that you deserve to be behind bars," Donald said.

"I deserve to be behind bars?" she asked with utter disbelief.

"You were probably selling it to who ever wanted it in the camp. That's probably the only reason those two men are here for you. Tell me Margaret , why aren't any of you're nurses here? Did the men by any chance get treated a little better than the women?" Donald asked.

Margaret's eyes widened. She wanted badly to punch him, but she knew that if she did something it would only give Donald more to use against her.

"You bastard. Why don't you grow up for once huh? Maybe get over the fact that I left you and maybe realize that it was your fault," she said.

Margaret could not handle another minute with him and started to walk away. Suddenly she froze as her face lit up with realization. She slowly turned around to see Donald smirking at her. Now it all seemed to clear to her. There was a reason for all of this.

"You son of bitch. You did it didn't you?" she asked.


	15. Chapter 15

15 The Verdict

Margaret went back to her spot and sat down.

"Donald actually killed her," she said to herself.

She just waited for court to be back in session. Once it was, she was the first one called up to the bench by the prosecutor.

"Now Ms. Houlihan, could you tell us what you were doing in Molly's apartment," he said.

Margaret knew what game Donald was playing. So why not go with her own game?

"I was there to visit her, you know, like Donald was when I saw him," Margaret said.

"You saw Donald while you were there?" he asked.

"Well yeah. Remember? He came in right after I left. He told you that he saw me leaving," Margaret said.

"Right," he said.

Margaret looked over and saw Donald starting to get mad. He just stood there as he figured out what was going on.

"Well, any more questions?" the judge asked.

"No," he said.

"Would you like to cross examine Mr. Douglas?" he asked.

"No," he said.

"Then you may step down Ms. Houlihan," he said.

Margaret got down and went back to her seat. The rest of the time was spent going over the evidence. Margaret knew that she was innocent, but she wasn't sure that the rest of the court knew that. She herself was convinced that Donald had killed her. And why not? Set her up and get her put into jail. It was probably just a temper tantrum because he didn't get to bang the woman in front of him. The whole time she stared out the window. Margaret didn't want to be there. She soon perked her head up when the judge started to speak.

"Okay, we have been shown the evidence and have heard both sides. Tonight the jury will go back to their hotel rooms where they will have no contact with any one who has anything to do with the accused Margaret Houlihan. There they will decided whether Margaret Louise Houlihan is innocent or guilty. We will come back tomorrow at eleven AM," he said.

After the judge left, Margaret turned back to Hawkeye and Colonel Potter. She was nervous, there was no hiding it.

"Don't worry, we know you didn't do it," Hawkeye said.

"Yes, but do the ones who count in this know that?" Margaret asked.

Colonel Potter gave her a look of sympathy. She knew that they could tell how worried she actually was. Even though she was innocent, everything seemed to be against her.

"Well, I guess I'll just go wait in my hotel room. I've got nothing better to do," she said.

Margaret got up and walked out of the courtroom. Hawkeye and Colonel Potter just exchanged looks.

"You think they believed her?" Hawkeye asked.

Colonel Potter just stared at him for a second.

"I sure hope so," he said.

Margaret went over and up to her hotel room. She knew that she wasn't allowed to leave and since she was already in trouble she figured that she should probably just stay right where she was in her room. She stared in the mirror. There was no doubt that she was nervous about tomorrow.

"I wish that I had never even met that damn Donald," she said to herself.

The next day everyone was gathered in the court again. Margaret just walked in. Nervously, she looked around. And again she found Hawkeye and Colonel Potter sitting in the front row right behind her. She softly forced a smile at them and then continued to her seat in the front. All she could think about was, what if? What id she was found to be guilty? She drowned out all the sound around her as she stared out the window and kept thinking about that evil little smile that Donald had. That stupid little smug smile of his that she hated. He sat there the entire time with that smirk. It almost made her want to kill him. What's worse was that, she had been warned. Margaret felt that she had gotten herself into this. Hawkeye told her not to accept the engagement, she was told not to go along with him. But what did she do? She said yes. Not because she really felt that she should pr because she thought that that was the choice that would make her happy. It was to keep her from getting hurt again. To keep her from feeling that pain of jealousy that she had felt when she received the first letter from her friend telling her about how great it was to be married to the man that she had turned down. She couldn't handle getting another letter like that.

"Will the defendant Margaret Houlihan please rise," the judge announced.

Margaret looked up and stood. She looked over at the jury, none of them looked happy. That did not comfort her at all. 

"Margaret," Hawkeye whispered.

Margaret turned and both Colonel Potter and Hawkeye smiled at her.

"Don't worry," Potter said.

Margaret mouthed out a thank you to them and then turned back towards the front.

She saw some one from the jury get up and hand the judge a note.

"The court finds the defendant Margaret Louise Houlihan," he started.

Margaret was more nervous then she could ever even begin to describe to any one. Every word he read from that note seemed to drag on forever only making her more anxious.

"Guilty of the murder of Molly Houlihan," he said.

Margaret's eyes widened with disbelief.


	16. Chapter 16

16

Margaret just sat there. She could not believe what she had just heard. Her whole career was over. Her record was messed up. Worst off, her sister was dead because of her ex boyfriend. Hawkeye and Colonel Potter just stared. Hawkeye reached his hand out and put it on her shoulder in attempt to comfort her, but she just ignored it. She went numb. The plaintiff came over and had her stand up and he lead her back to the rooms. Hawkeye looked over at Donald and saw him grinning.

"You bastard," he said under his breath.

He started to go towards him but Colonel Potter grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't do anything that you'll regret," he said.

Hawkeye turned around.

"But he did it," Hawkeye said.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Haven't you been listening? He was at the apartment right after Margaret. She said didn't even know that her sister was dead until she had returned to the camp. Do you really think that Margaret would kill her own sister?" Hawkeye asked.

"Alright, so we know that he is the killer. Now what? I want to help her as much as you do, but going over there and getting mad at him in public won't do anything. It might even make things worse," he said.

Hawkeye stood there for a minute. He was right. They both walked out and went back to the camp.

Margaret sat in her own little cell. All she did was sit there. Soon enough her father would find out about this. Soon enough she would be dropped from Major to Private. Mostly all she could feel was anger. She knew in the back of her head that it was Donald who had murdered her sister. Sure, she could try and tell the judge that, but how convincing would that be coming from some one who was just said to be guilty? She laid down and dropped her head into her pillow and started to cry. As unusual as it was, she didn't care who saw her. She felt as if she had nothing to lose. She had just been convicted of murder. No one felt trust or respect for a murderer. Nobody cared.

Back at the camp later that night Hawkeye and Radar sat at the phone.

"Donald Penobscot," Hawkeye said.

Radar just sat near by to listen in on what was going on.

"Okay," Hawkeye said.

"Yes, I can wait a minute," Hawkeye said.

The room was silent for a moment as he waited on the phone.

"Hey," Hawkeye said as he looked at Radar and began to smirk.

"It's me, Hawkeye," he said.

Hawkeye signaled for Radar to go into the other room.

"So Donald, must be pretty rough having your girlfriend murdered by your ex girlfriend," Hawkeye said.

"No, you can trust me. Why couldn't you?" Hawkeye asked.

"I see," he said.

"I know that. But she's in jail. What am I going to do about it?' he asked.

"You did?" Hawkeye asked.

"But I thought," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye began to smirk again.

"That's pretty good there," he said.

"You know, you're still the most envied guy there is," he said.

"Nice talking to you to. Bye," Hawkeye said and then hung up the phone.

Radar came walking out of the room with a pad of paper in his hand.

"Did you get it?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yes sir," Radar said handing it to him.

"Terrific," Hawkeye said reading it over.

Radar just stood behind him.

"No offense sir, but what happens if Donald just says that he didn't say any of that?" Radar asked.

"Don't worry, I asked the operator to record the start and stop time for the conversation. She'll mail it to us and it should get here before the sentence is revealed. That way there is no way for him to say that the call never happened," Hawkeye said.

Back in Colonel Potter's tent he was looking through all her old records. He knew that they had looked through them already, but they couldn't have gone over them the way that he was. BJ sat at the other end as he looked through some of them.

"It's unbelievable how clean her records really are," BJ said.

"I know, I'm still trying to figure out how they could say that she had even done anything wrong," he said.

BJ just sighed as he put one down and picked up another. He started to read it and then his eyes widened.

"I think I found out why," he said.

"What is it?" he asked looking up from his.

"Read this," he said handing it over to him.

The Colonel took it and read it over.

"Caught on stealing drugs from the pharmacy for personal use," he said.

"Now they can take that and use it against her as murder plot can't they?" BJ asked.

"You bet. They can also use it to say that she is still doing that and she could be out of her mind which would lead her to murder some one," he said.

"Don't we keep files on the medicine that we get and who it gets distributed to?" BJ asked.

"Yes," Potter said.

"Can't we use those to prove that hasn't taken any of the medicine?" BJ asked.

"Well that would work, except we've got one little problem with that," he said.

"What's that?" BJ asked.

"Major Houlihan is in charge of keeping track on the medicine and who gets it," he said.

BJ just sighed as he looked towards the door and then faced his attention back to him.

"Isn't there anything that we can do?" BJ asked.

"We could find ways to prove that she isn't taking any medicines that she's not supposed to, but all that would be doing would be showing them that she can be trusted with drugs," Potter said.

"But if we prove that this one time can't be used against her, can't we prove that she's clean?" BJ asked.

"Listen to yourself," he said.

BJ sat back.

"There have been cases where people twice as clean as her go out and kill others. Half of these cases are never solved. We happen to be in the middle of a war where more often then not people do tent to lose it. They don't give a damn whether or not we can prove one file to not be true any more," he said.

"Then why are we looking through her files in the first place?" BJ asked.

"What are we going to do? Everything we say is going to 'alleged', I figure if we can back it up it'll give her a chance," he said.


	17. Thank You for Everything

Chapter 17: Thank You For Everything

It was time for her sentencing. Margaret Houlihan, once a Major, and head nurse at her unit, was now going to go to jail for something that she didn't do. Along with that, she was about to lose everything that she had worked so hard for in her life, her job, her respect, and most of all, being able to please her father. This was all that he had ever talked about, being in the military, and now, here she was publicly letting him down.

Before Margaret had been lead out into the courtroom, Colonel Potter and BJ had brought in whatever they could find on Margaret, but it wasn't enough. Her lawyer had explained to them the same things that Colonel Potter had told BJ the night before.

Margaret was brought out into the courtroom. As she looked around, she saw Potter, BJ, Klinger, Charles, and Father Mulcahy, but neither Hawkeye nor Radar were there. It was okay that Radar had not showed up, but the fact that Hawkeye wasn't there completely let her down. Even if he was back at camp trying to save some kid's life, or waiting for wounded or anything that would make him useful there, it was still hard for her to deal with the fact that he wasn't there with her.

Instead of showing this, she sat down in her seat and turned back to slightly smile at those how were there, just to silently thank them and then turned back towards the front. It was hard for her to looked towards where the judge was going to be. That was where her entire future had been decided for her, and now she was going get to hear how long the first part of her punishment was going to be, and obviously it was going to be a while. After that, even if she did get out at a reasonable age, there would be no chance at becoming a nurse again, and although she could live with that, she could never live with what this would do to her father. Hearing that one sister killed the other and how she was dishonorably discharged.

"All rise!" was all she heard before she stood up. As dignified as she could, she stood there and faced the judge. It didn't matter though, there was no way to go into prison with dignity, that was the point of it all, to strip you of everything and show everyone that you're a horrible person that deserves nothing in life. "Margaret Houlihan, you have been found guilty in the murder of Molly Houlihan," he started.

"Wait a second!" Hawkeye said as he and Radar walked through the doors and down the aisle to the front.

"Could you please explain the meaning of all of this?" the judge asked.

"What would you say if we told you that this right here is a true confession stated by someone else that they had committed the murder of Molly Houlihan?" Hawkeye asked as he held up the package.

The judge looked over and sighed. "Alright," he said as he stood up. He took the package, "we're now on recess," he said and then carried it out of the room.

Margaret stood there and then turned to Hawkeye. Her entire future was in his hands. She stood there and waited for him to acknowledge her before she smiled to him. He smiled back, but did not go to talk to her. It was probably all for the better though, that way if this did not help her out, that way he wouldn't feel so guilty for it.

She was taken back to her little cell while everyone was on recess. It was all very nerve racking. Her own thoughts started to become flustered as she paced back and forth, from wall to wall. Every second seemed to last an eternity. She was about to go and hear how the rest of her life was going to turn out, and all because of the man that she had chosen to date.

"Margaret Houlihan? Everyone's ready for you," the soldier said as he unlocked the door. He took her by the elbow and walked her out at a steady pace. She stopped at the table and looked down to the handcuffs and then back up towards the front of the room. The most that she could do at the moment was to show that she had some dignity left. She stood up straight and stared forward. Her expression was hard and emotionless as she stood up before judge who had finally decided to make his entrance. Margaret didn't notice when everyone else had sat down, but it didn't matter since she herself had to remain standing.

"Major Margaret Houlihan, head nurse of the 4077th M.A.S.H unit," he said and then looked down at some papers before him.

Margaret just stood there and waited in agony. She had no idea what had been brought in and whether or not it actually helped her. All she wanted to do was to hear the verdict, guilty or innocent. Being called guilty cannot be nearly as bad as waiting like this.

"You were originally found guilty of the murder of Molly Houlihan, but, due to further evidence, you are proven innocent."

Margaret let out a subtle sigh of relief. Hawkeye behind her could see her shoulders go from tense to relaxed.

"Donald Penobscot, please rise," the judge ordered.

Donald stood up in the crowd and glared over towards Hawkeye and Radar before turning his attention to the judge.

"You are found guilty for the murder of Molly Houlihan. You will be appointed a lawyer if you cannot afford one if you plan on appealing."

Margaret's hands were freed from the handcuffs and she stood there long enough to watch Donald be taken out of the room.

The group that had come to support her was huddled in the back, waiting for her. She walked back there and everyone silenced. "Thank you everyone," Margaret said.

"Actually, if you're going to thank anyone, should be Pierce and Radar over here," Potter said as he gestured to the two beside him.

"Yeah, all the rest of us just had files," BJ said.

Margaret turned to Hawkeye and Radar. Smiling warningly, something uncommon for her, she kissed each of them on the cheek causing Radar to blush and Hawkeye to smirk. "I'm very grateful for what you have done for me. Believe me."

Hawkeye leaned over and hugged Margaret. "You didn't think we were just gonna let them take our hotlips away without a fight did ya?"

Margaret rolled her eyes. "Pierce!" she warned.

Hawkeye backed up and teasingly pouted. Margaret's smile returned. "Come on, we should get back to camp," she said and then started to leave. Hawkeye caught up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Well, looks like good ol Margaret's back," BJ said right before following her out.

"Thank god," Charles said following BJ. "I hate it when anyone gets mushy."

"I'm just glad things are going to be getting back to normal," Klinger said.

"Me too. The stress of one person seems to somehow spread to everyone else around," Father Mulcahy said.

As the two started to walk out, Klinger's face lit up. "Hey! You think if I act normal for a day, everyone else will and then the next day they'll all see how deserving of a section eight I truly am?" he asked.

Father Mulcahy just laughed and shook his head.

Potter just watched everyone else leave the room and then patted Radar on the shoulder. "Come on son, I think its time we got up to the rest of the group up there." He looked down and saw Radar staring wide eyed straight ahead. "Radar?"

"She kissed me sir!" Radar said.

Potter sighed. "I know," he said. Potter started to guide Radar out the door. "Try not to fall over," he said.

"She kissed me!" Radar announced.

"Well you don't say?" Potter said going along with it.

"I do say sir!" Radar said.


End file.
